Well, as you probably already know, Master Shinran (Kyogyoshinsho, Ch 6.) quotes the 'Master of Kuang-ming temple':Monlam Tharchin wrote:At a Shinshu temple I went to, the priest joked that if you recite nembutsu constantly, something is wrong with you. The implication being that it's unnecessary and belies a lack of confidence in Amitabha.
I've seen this attitude more than once.
He goes on to say that the auxillary practices (worship other than nembutsu that is nonetheless centered on Amida Buddha) are the provisional even though they are also exclusive, but he doesn't qualify the "act of right assurance" by somehow saying that "without regard to the length of practice" excludes constant practice and upholds the single utterance. He keeps the "continuous" factor of the right assurance practice completely intact.Master of Kuang-ming temple via Master Shinran wrote:Further, right practice is divided into two. One is to recite Amida's Name singlemindedly, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, with uninterrupted, continuous thought and without regard to the length of practice. This is called the act of right assurance, for it is in accord with the Buddha’s vow. If one engages in worship, chanting, and so forth, these are called auxiliary practices. Other forms of good than these two kinds of practice are all called sundry practices."
I was confused about this before I recognized that I implicitly believed in my own autonomous "free will" and thought that I had a sense of agency that started with an "independent" decision that I made. But, dharma says there is no such thing. What we do, or not, what we practice, or not, is residual karma. As long as I don't use this an excuse to slap my mother then go "That's my karma, I guess " I don't think I accepted the teachings on karma for the worse.
This teaching doesn't make sense to me without accepting that it's our karmic offenses that inhibit our practice, so the single utterance of the Name may easily inspire more recitations in this case, due to the obliteration of those karmic offenses that previously held us back. There's degrees of merit and the offenses they excise, so to say that the merit of the nembutsu is effective to the infinite degree is an understatement, since we are in the state of non-retrogression with nembutsu practice and the Primal Vow. How that obliteration unfolds is not up to me to figure out (hence "may"), only for Amida Buddha to do.Master Honen, An Outline of the Essentials of Jodo Shu wrote:Accordingly, make every effort to be of unwholesome karma, and, in turn, to conduct yourself virtuously. Firmly believe that the essential vow does not discriminate between the virtuous and non-virtuous and that anyone who recites the name of Amida Buddha will be welcomed by him. Believe also that his name has the power to nullify karmic offenses, and that a single utterance, or ten recitations will bring birth in the Pure Land. There should be no doubt in the heart of the nembutsu devotee."
However, if I, even subconsciously, thought that any recitation, or not, just came from me, completely independently, and I am autonomously deciding to recite or not, I could see the priest's point. But the truth is, I came from being completely clueless about the practice, to making fun of it, to reciting it because of the unfolding of karma. This makes it hard for me to claim that it's "me", reciting how "I" want to .
I don't really know how to continue with this train of thought without making it seem like I'm making a personal judgment about someone else's karma (as if I could), so I'll just say that I don't really think in terms of "necessary" or not when it comes to this kind of thing, since if I get too caught up in what is "necessary", I tend to create anxiety for myself about whether I am doing too much or too little. Master Honen keeps me from fretting:
Master Honen, Essential Discourse on Birth in the Pure Land through Nembutsu wrote:Q.(10): Which is more profound: nembutsu at the time of death or nembutsu in our daily life?
Answer: They are the same. Our daily nembutsu and nembutsu at the time of death are no different at all. When we are visited by death, our daily nembutsu becomes nembutsu at death; if our life is prolonged, nembutsu at death becomes nembutsu of daily life.
Same here! Even though Amida Buddha will save me no matter what, this "lesser state" on this side of the Pure Land is not good for me in the relative, conventional sense. It doesn't correlate with whether I attain birth or not, but I'd rather just not put myself through it.For me personally, reducing diligence in recitation means that instead of holding fast to Amitabha's sleeve, I start picking up all my old favorite defilements instead.
I can't just have a shiny thing on the shelf and not play with itNembutsu isn't a golden ticket to Vegas sitting on your shelf for that day you're ready to go. That definitely can get lost in some of the rhetoric.